When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
